By Peter Munro and Inga Ting

They're an oasis of green, soaking up million-dollar swathes of Sydney's congested suburbs. The city's golf courses occupy an area 20 times the size of Centennial Park, but are open only to a relatively privileged few. Unlocking such prime real estate for public use could help solve Sydney's shortage of housing and recreational space, planning experts say.

Sydney's golf courses occupy an area 1.5 times larger than the City of Sydney.Credit:Fairfax Media

"There might be 1100 members of Eastlakes Golf Club but probably thousands of kids in that area struggling to get space to play soccer and Aussie Rules," he says. "Having that much open space often used exclusively for private purposes is just not good planning."

Sydney's 91 golf courses cover some 38 square kilometres of open space but are accessible only by members or paying guests. If the 62-hectares reserved for the exclusive, members-only Australian Golf Club, in Rosebery, where the Australian Open will be held in November, were converted to houses or apartments, the residential land value would potentially be upwards of $1.7 billion.

Teed up for development? Eastlake golf course could be converted into parkland.Credit:Brendan Esposito

The adjoining Eastlakes golf course, a 20-minute drive from the central business district, could be turned into a major new public park as part of the City of Botany Bay's Vision 2040 Directions Paper. Mayor Ben Keneally says the number of golf courses in Sydney should be reduced so such valuable land is accessible by all.

"Sydney has more golf courses within the metropolitan area than any other major city in the world," he says.

"They are wonderful, open spaces that are little used. You see, by contrast, how crowded Centennial Park and Moore Park get. I think it would make more sense to allow more people access to these beautiful spaces."

Ku-ring-gai Council is considering a similar plan to convert Gordon Golf Course, in the city's north, into playgrounds, picnic areas and walking and cycling trails.

Urban planner and policy analyst Nicole Gurran, at the University of Sydney, says such proposals could help ease housing pressures. "When you have more intense housing development, these open spaces do become really important," she says. "I think it's great that councils are looking proactively at how to more fairly share access to those areas."

"They provide a healthy outdoor activity for many thousands of people in an ageing population, and I would say it's a good use for the land," he says. "To say it's for a chosen few is not correct."

Golf NSW says the numbers of golfers increased across metropolitan Sydney in the past few years, to about 75,000 members and a further 225,000 social players – buoyed in part by Adam Scott's victory in the Australian Masters in 2012. But overall participation in the sport dropped 5 per cent to 1.2 million between 2001 and 2010, according to the Australian Sports Commission.

Some struggling golf clubs are selling land to counter the effect of declining membership numbers. In April, Strathfield Golf Club sold land occupied by a clubhouse and practice fairway to developers for $52.5 million. The 34 hectares will be converted to units and townhouses.

The club's number of full-fee members has dropped from 1500 to about 900 in the past five years, says general manager Neil Hardy. "All clubs are doing it tough and some are doing it tougher than others. It's very hard making the figures add up. So clubs have got to look at alternative ways of surviving," he says.

"There may well be too many golf courses around for the number of people who want to play, but the market will rationalise that."